We’ve been working on Chinese dragons all throughout January for Chinese New Year. It was a big thing for me, because I have been the one spear-heading the whole craft. Although Chinese New Year was a couple weeks ago, we decided to have a “parade” with our dragons, especially because we had two little girls who celebrate in our class.

My lead teacher was leading the parade, and I was following up behind. She played a song on a little recorder, and (most of) the kids hummed or sang along. We paraded through the other classrooms, through the office, and back to our classroom. For a class of almost 30 kids, they were amazingly well behaved, and I was really proud of them.

To put the next part of the story into context, I need to tell you about Michael*. Michael is younger than the other kids, and he’s a complete handful. He doesn’t listen, he’s always in his own world, and though he’s adorable, he couldn’t sit still if his life depended on it.So there I am, at the end of the line with Michael, who is being surprisingly well behaved. I was so proud of him because lines are definitely not his strong point. Anyway, he leaned over and gave me a side hug and said, in his little voice, “thank you for doing the dragons”.

Suddenly all those frustrations melted away, and I saw my job for what it really is. Introducing those kids to another culture and seeing them actually get it, was wonderful. If no one else appreciates what I do, they do, and that made it all worthwhile.

All the cut hours, the frustrations, the glitter…it suddenly disappeared, because Michael appreciated what I was doing, and he even walked in line properly.

I guess sometimes I need a little reminder of who I actually work for.

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About Megg

I'm a 28 year old, newly married, newly living in Washington, librarian trying to find a job in a library. Meanwhile I'm working with kids and spend my afternoons playing Mancala and reading picture books.
Come along for the journey as I share recipes, decoration ideas, photos, and hopefully gain some insight from the internet and fellow bloggers.